Improved clothes-drier



itlnit f taten @anni itc.

A NDREW HARRISON,

Letters .Paten-t No. 94,595, dated Slptcmbcr 7, 186i).

IMPROVED CLOTHES-DRIER.

TJe Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom t may concern.:

Bc it known that I, ANDuEW H'anlsox, of Newcastle, in the county of Lawrence, and State ot'Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improved Clothes- Rack; and I do hereby declare that the ibllowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, nmkingl a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing the rack in one form.

Figure 2 is a similar view, showing the rack opened ina different manner.

The object of this invention is to provide, i'or public use, .a neat, simple, cheap, and convenient clothesrack, so constructed and operating that it can be opened or expanded into different shapes to adapt it to diii'erent positions in the room, such as standing in a corner, near the stove, in the open room, &e.

To this end, the invention is so constructed that its sides are capable oi' being opened in the inanner shown in fig. 2, in which form it is adapted to stand-in a corner ofthe room, out of the way, occupying butan exceedingly small space. 'lhe same form also tits it for standii'ig near the stove, fire-place, or other heater.

It' the heater be a stove, the' rack, when opened, as shown in fio. 2, will halt' enclose it, so as to receive the heat from twosidcs of itequally.

lfthe heater he a lire-place, range, or other device projecting but slightly from the wall, the rack may be placed with the anglo opposite the centre of the fire-place, range, &c., and the sides or wings extending toward the ends or corners oi' the iire-pla-ce, so as to intercept by i'ar the greater part of the heat radiated from the heater.

When expanded in the manner represented in lilf. 1, the rack may be placed in any position in the room, and the clothes will hang from its rounds or slats without interfering or coming inv contact with each other.

The device, which is capable. oi' being thus expanded into .different forms, to adapt it to different positions, or of heilig so neatly and compactly folded together chair, consists of four separate racks, constructed and connected in the manner which l. will now proceed to describe in detail.

The main rack, No. 1, consists of two vertical posts, A A, connected by four (more or less) slats or rounds A A' A', made expansible by means of sliding sock-v This rack is slightly shorter than the other, and its posts are bcvelled at one end, as shown at l1 b. It is connected to the rack No. l by means of abut or hinge, E, fastenedV permanently to the rack No. 1, but fastened to rack No. 2 only by a single pin, c, which cau be readily removed, and which, when in place, may operate as a pivot upon which racltN'o. 2 may be swung out to an inclined position relatively to rack No. 1, as shown in fig. l, the bevel l) operating' then as a stop to prevent the two racks from heilig opened too far. 4

Near their lower end, the posts A A, B B arc provided with a hasp, F, which, articulated to onel rack, hooks into a staple in thc other.

ly removing the piu c, and unlatchingthehasp at one end of the two racks, so as to discngage them from each other at that end,'the.y1nay be opened, as shown iu iig. 2, swinging upon thc hinge E and hasp F, at thel other end, will be readily understood without further description. j

Racks No. 3 and No. -L are made. exact-ly alike, each consisting of two posts, C and l) D, respectively, connected by expansible bars or slats, c c, ll d.

When thc clothes-rack is expanded, these small racks or` wings are designed to incline outward from the side of thel device, as shown in both drawings.

To this end, and to adapt them to be neatly folded up against theHnain-racks when not in use, they are each articulated to one ofthe larger racks' by means of a iixcd plate, c' d', projecting from the posts A B, and a pivot-pin, p, passing through the endoi` the plate into the post C or l), a little above the lower end of the latter.

The posts (l l) are lmvellcd at their `lower ends, below the joints-c p, or d' p, as the case maybe, so that when inclined out-ward to the proper angle, such end will rest fairly against the side, oi' its supportingpost. y

Above the joint, hasps may bc employed to connect the racks No. 3 and'No. l., or No. 4 and No. 2, in order to relieve the joints below of a portion of the strain to which they will be subjected when the rack is laden with wet clothes.

If preferred, the end posts C D, instead of terminatingr at their lower end in a mere fiat bevelled suriface, as 'above described, may terminate in a metallic plate, M, notched at its lower end, seen at nl, and a series of pins, o o o, may be made to project from the side of the posts A B, upon any one oi' which the side racks can be stepped, as sho'wn in iilr. 1. In this case the joints c' p and d' p 'should be made in thc forni of a lever-joint or simple plate c' or d', looselj articulated at one cud to the post A or B, and at the other, to the post C or l).

By this arrangement, both the altitude and inclination of the wings No. 3 and N o. can be adjusted at pleasure. In this case, if the joint c p or 1l p were near the middle of posts A B, the lower ends of the ning-posts OD might be rounded ofi' rather 'than hevelled. The wings could then be folded either 11pward or downward against the main racks, as mighthe most convenient.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire toseelire hy Letters Patent, is-

ll. The extending vand contractingr lengthwise, by means of metallic -clasps a, or their equivalent, on each separate Slat A or B, so constructed as to make a sliding or extension-joint, when the slats are in two or more sections each.

2. The opening sidewise, from either end, by means oi' double-acting pivot-hinges E, so constructed that the pivots e e turn when the rack is opened for cornmon use., and then by removing the pin at either end and hooking in hasp F into a staple at the opposite l end, the rack opens sidewise and turns on hinges E and hasps F, which form complete hinges for lthe purposes specified.

3. The attachment of the wings No. 3 and No. 4,

by means of plates, c d', loosely articulated at each rimesses z 1. P. Rosle, J. Y. ROSE. 

